‘No threat to society’ – top Russian mufti appeals to Putin in defense of hijab

Russia’s Grand Mufti has sent President Putin a letter pleading to defend the right of Muslim girls to wear the hijab in schools and universities. The cleric maintains that traditional headgear is a sign of modesty, not of religious zeal.

Ravil Gainutdin explained in his letter that it was prompted by
the fact that on February 11 Russia’s Supreme Court is scheduled
to discuss the ban on Muslim headgear in schools introduced
earlier in the Russian republic of Mordovia. The cleric also
reminded the Russian leader that February 1 is marked around the
world as “International Hijab Day”.

“I address you as a mufti and as a father – please protect
our traditional values, protect our daughters and granddaughters
– the future of our great and beautiful Eurasian state,”
Gainutdin wrote in the open letter published on Wednesday on the
Russian Council of Muftis’ website.

The mufti emphasized that many people outside the Muslim
community had a wrong understanding of the hijab, its meaning and
the rules governing its use. “Hijab simply means “veil” in
Arabic and Islam doesn’t demand that everyone wears some sort of
uniform, it only declares the principle of modesty and non-
nudity,” he wrote. “It is neither a sign of some
confession nor a challenge to society.”

Gainutdin also claimed that a similar approach to women’s dress
existed in other Abrahamic religions and traditional cultures. He
added that the experience of predominantly Muslim regions, such
as Tatarstan and Chechnya is proof that the policy of secular
authorities’ non-involvement in religious issues can only have a
positive effect.

The mufti went on to blame foreign influence for the very
existence of the hijab controversy. “Through the ‘headscarf
issue’ certain foreign forces are imposing on us intolerance,
anti-democracy and disrespect to Eurasian traditions of
inter-ethnic friendship. They are politicizing a completely
household, family issue. Through tearing off modest clothing they
seek to tear the beautiful and complicated patterned cloth of the
Russian world,” Gainutdin stated.

No official response to the letter was immediately available.

Towards the end of 2012, Vladimir Putin opposed hijabs in schools
saying that though people’s religious feelings must be respected,
Russia was a secular state. “We should see how our neighbors,
European states deal with this issue [wearing hijabs]. And
everything will become clear,” Putin said.

However, the president stressed that decisions on the matter can
only be made in an acceptable form – so that no one is hurt – and
after a discussion with clerics.

In July 2014, Russia’s Supreme Court banned the use of the hijab
and other Muslim headwear in schools, following a complaint from
southern Russia’s Stavropol region. Several months earlier, the
regional administration ordered all schoolchildren to appear in
classes only in regular, secular clothes.

Local Muslims turned to the courts saying the regulation was
infringing their freedom of faith as certain denominations of
Islam requires that all women wear special headscarves called
hijabs that cover their hair and necks.

The regional court threw the claim out as, according to the
judges, school regulations concerning dress did not prevent
Muslims from believing in God and were therefore not infringing
anyone’s rights. The Supreme Court also took the side of the
Stavropol administration and rejected the appeal.